Secondary Schools in Which No One Succeeded, in Jordan During the 2014-2015 Academic Year: Causes of Failure and Treatment

Abstract

This study aimed at exploring the causes of students’ failure at 349 secondary schools in Jordan as no student passed the General Secondary Examination in thoses schools in the academic year 2014/2015. The sample of the study was a stratified random sample that consisted of (59) schools. Using the qualitative approach, this study depended specifically on individual interviews to collect the needed data. Interviews were held with all the parties related to the educational process in each school (Director of Education, principal, teachers, students and parents).

The findings of the study revealed  the following causes of students’ failure according to the order of importance, from the participants’ points of view; students’ weakness in  their  skills and knowledge foundation, the  difficulty of the questions and the change of their patterns, students carelessness and not preparing themselves for the exams, lack of parents’ follow-up of their children’s education , cheating widespread phenomenon, students’ dependence on study-notes and private tutoring, students’ low  motivation toward studying and learning, unqualified teachers, poor social and economic conditions of the students’ families, lack of   permanent teachers and hiring the supplementary ones, the automatic promotion of the students through the pre- secondary grades and parents’ and students’ desire to get “ un- passed”  general secondary education certificate.

On the basis of the results of this study, several solutions and recommendations were stated by the researchers to encounter the causes of students’ failure.